THE Sino-British talks on the 1994/95 electoral arrangement are showing signs of progress after the two sides went into ''substantive'' discussions and exchanged statements at yesterday's meeting.
Before the opening of the eighth round of talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, chief negotiators of the two sides indicated that the move towards agreement would be speeded up.
China's chief negotiator Jiang Enzhu said he looked forward to greater progress in this round of talks - the first after Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen met his British counterpart, Douglas Hurd.
''We shall follow the spirit of the talks between the two foreign ministers, put in greater effort in order to accelerate the pace of our negotiation,'' he said.
But Mr Jiang and his British counterpart, Sir Robin McLaren, remained tight-lipped on the agenda and issues discussed.
Britain has demanded the through-train be discussed by the two Governments but the Chinese authorities insisted it be left for the Special Administrative Region (SAR) Preparatory Committee, to be set up in 1996, to decide.
Sir Robin, the British chief negotiator and ambassador to China, said the talks had become more substantive as Mr Hurd had set down some useful guidelines in his visit to Beijing.